The strangulation death of a 1-year-old boy apparently at the hands of his 6-year-old sister has led to a criminal charge against the father who left them alone in his vehicle during a shopping spree.

Adrian Middleton, 26, told authorities he left his two young children in the back seat of his car on May 20 while he went inside a thrift store for nearly two hours near Jacinto City. When he returned to the car, his son was unconscious with a seat belt wrapped around his neck.

Middleton’s daughter told officials with the Harris County Children’s Assessment Center that she was playing with her younger brother in the back seat and that she got angry when he would not stop crying, according to court records.

She told the center she wrapped the seat belt around her brother, and thought he had fallen asleep.

Six months after the strangulation death of Adrian Middleton Jr., their father has been charged with child abandonment. He turned himself over to Baytown Police Department around 2 p.m. Monday, jail records show.

According to a criminal complaint filed Friday in Harris County, the 26-year-old father told Houston police that he left the air conditioner on, played a movie and gave his children water and a snack before shopping at the Family Thrift Store on 12001 East Freeway on May 20.

He said that he had looked out the store window to check on his children while shopping. The father initially told authorities the children were belted in their car seats, but later said they were not using car seats.

Surveillance video from the store shows Middleton entering the business about 10:35 a.m. and leaving about 12:15 p.m., according to court documents.

As Middleton placed the shopping bags in the trunk of his car, he noticed his daughter crying in the back seat. She told him that she “did something bad,” according to court documents.

Middleton called 9-1-1 and attempted CPR after finding his son.

The boy was transported to Texas Children’s Hospital where he was pronounced dead. His death was ruled as a homicide by strangulation, the documents say.

The girl is now in the custody of her grandmother, Houston police said.